Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie has ordered sniffer dogs be placed at Darwin International Airport in response to the African swine fever being detected in East Timor.

Environment

Fears swine fever will hit Australia

by JUDITH AISTHORPE

2nd Oct 2019 10:08 AM
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SNIFFER dogs will be based at the Darwin International Airport in response to the African swine fever being detected on Australia's doorstep.

The disease has been detected in East Timor, just 650km away.

In response to the disease's proximity to Australia, Federal Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie has ordered sniffer dogs be stationed at Darwin's airport.

The fever was found at East Timor last week.

A Department of Agriculture spokeswoman told News Corp they were monitoring the risk across the region, and in particular the risks associated with travellers arriving into Australia from ASF-affected countries.

"There are nine weekly dir­ect flights into Darwin from Dili. All arriving travellers on these flights are risk assessed, and high risk travellers of interest are identified for bio­security screening," she said.

"Additional briefings are being provided to biosecurity officers who risk-assess and manage travellers arriving from Timor Leste into Darwin."

High risk groups, such as farm workers bound for the Northern Territory, have also been targeted for messaging.